Dhe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is expecting a decisive response from the international community after an attack on the train station in Kramatorsk that killed more than 50 people. He called for a total embargo on Russian oil and natural gas. According to the US Department of Defense, the Russian armed forces are trying to rebuild their units after losses in northern Ukraine. Tens of thousands of reservists could be mobilized for deployment in the east of the country.
Zelenskyy said in a video message late Friday night that it is energy exports that make up the lion’s share of Russia’s profits. They led the Russian leadership to believe that the world would ignore the Russian army’s “war crimes”. The Russian banks would also have to be completely decoupled from the global financial system.
According to the US Department of Defense, Russian forces are responsible for the deadly missile attack on the Kramatorsk train station. According to Ukrainian sources, 52 people died and 109 were injured. Russia’s official denials on the matter are “unconvincing,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
Washington: Russian military replenishes weakened units
According to the US Department of Defense, the Russian armed forces are trying to rebuild their units with new material and soldiers after losses in northern Ukraine. There are also reports that the units now to be deployed in eastern Ukraine will be reinforced by mobilizing “tens of thousands of reservists,” Pentagon spokesman Kirby said. He warned that, despite their losses, the Russians still had most of their regional strength available for the war. In addition, the Russian military will now probably concentrate on the geographically much smaller area of eastern Donbass.
According to a senior Pentagon official, Russia has already massed thousands of additional troops near the border with the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. The number of tactical battalions near the Russian city of Belgorod has increased from 30 to 40 now. Such battalions typically consist of about 600 to 1000 soldiers. The senior ministry official said there were indications the Russians were hoping to mobilize “more than 60,000 troops”. Very intense fighting is to be expected in the Donbass. “It could get very gory and very ugly,” he said.
Ukrainian ombudswoman reports rape of minors
The human rights commissioner of the Ukrainian parliament, Lyudmyla Denisova, has accused Russian soldiers of raping minors. A 14-year-old girl from the Kiev suburb of Bucha was abused by five different men and is now pregnant, Denisova wrote on Facebook. An eleven-year-old boy, also from Butscha, was said to have been raped. The information could not be verified at first. Denisova appealed to the United Nations to investigate these and other war crimes.
Selenskyj wants to quickly answer questionnaires about EU accession
Ukraine wants to answer a European Union questionnaire within a week, which will serve as the basis for accession talks. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented this to Selenskyj on Friday during her visit to Kyiv. “Our government will prepare the answers qualitatively and very quickly. I think within a week,” said Zelenskyj in his daily video address.
US paves the way for higher tariffs on Russian goods
In the future, the US government can levy higher tariffs on imported goods from Russia and Belarus. US President Joe Biden signed into law a law passed by Congress suspending normal trade relations between the two countries. Biden also signed a law banning the import of Russian oil.
Russia bans the work of party-affiliated German foundations
Russia has banned the work of several party-affiliated German foundations and international human rights organizations. The Ministry of Justice in Moscow announced that the registration had been withdrawn from the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as nine other non-governmental organizations have also been implicated for alleged “violations of the applicable legislation of the Russian Federation”.
UN organizations call for help for seafarers stranded in Ukraine
Two United Nations agencies have called for help for around 1,000 seafarers stranded on merchant ships in Ukrainian waters. The World Maritime Organization (IMO) and the UN Labor Organization (ILO) asked the International Committee of the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and the UN refugee agency UNHCR to supply the 86 ships registered there with essential goods for their seafarers, according to a joint statement.
This will be important on SaturdayAn international donor conference will be held in Poland on Saturday to raise money for refugees from Ukraine and internally displaced people. The event was convened by the non-governmental organization Global Citizen, the EU Commission and the Canadian government. The funds are to go to United Nations programs and local aid initiatives, among others.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is expected in Kyiv for a solidarity visit. He is to meet President Zelenskyj, Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal and Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
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